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Maybe it’s just her finally listening to her genes, but she hasn't felt this good since successfully disrupting her dad's plan for the first time.
Glaring down at the unconscious man, she’s been building an entire case around him for a month. His blood splashed everywhere on her spoiler costume, making it appear as if she killed him. Making her feel itchy all over.
That's what ugly, disgusting men like this guy get for trying to kidnap her in broad daylight.
Or maybe it’s the way Batgirl is staring at her, as if she grew a second head. Stephaine couldn't actually see Batgirl's face because of the mask, she could sense it in her body language.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she finally relaxes. finding pride in the fact that Spoiler helped get one more horrible person off the street, preventing hundreds of people from being put through horrible circumstances for someone else's gain.
Batgirl only stared at Steph, not saying a single word; she didn't even change her body language. She only stood there and stared, which was making stephanie worry what she was thinking. If only she just stopped staring at her.
Steph made her way on top of the building next to the alley, gesturing for Batgirl to follow her.
On top of the building steph finally felt safe asking her questions freely, though not before dialing 911 to make sure the idiot didn't bleed out on her watch.
“Why do you keep staring at me like that?” Stephanie said, tilting her head slightly, returning the look of confusion she had given her. Cass kept staring at her, making no movement to indicate how she was feeling. She just stood there. For all Steph knew, Cass could be jumping for joy in her head.
“If you’re wondering about the guy, don’t worry, he was a trafficker,” She said happily to break the silence, emphasizing ‘trafficker’ while waving her hand in the air wildly as if to physically dismiss any worry. Stephanie continued, "He even tried to kidnap me like a month ago, been building a case around him ever since, and now that evidence is taped to his chest."
She thought that Cass would be at least relieved like she was, but instead she asked-
“Why?” Cass spoke as quietly as a mouse.
Steph could barely hear her over the regular sounds of late-night Gotham. But she did, she could somehow hear her more clearly than she ever had, even clearer than if they were in the library back at the mansion. The library that Steph has yet to see, but a girl can dream.
Based on the body language that cass was allowing to understand. Whatever she was thinking of wasn’t so joyful; it seemed quite the opposite, actually. “What do you mean?” Steph dead-toned, staring at Cass full on now. Standing up straighter and blinking extra slowly.
Steph began to discreetly look around, checking all her options of escape. She didn't like how silent cass asked, it sounded as if she was blaming Steph for something she didn't even do.
It's not like she killed him or something; he's just bleeding out very slowly. The ambulance should be here any minute; he'll be fine.
Cass must've sensed what she was thinking and immediately changed her body language into as non-threatening as she could make it, knowing Steph had seen her spar everyone in the Bat-fam combined and win.
“We should head back to the cave, and could check in on the others,” she says, louder than last time, making sure she enunciated every word in a soft tone. Making sure what she said came across clearly and couldn’t be misinterpreted at all.
Cass continued, “We can get cleaned up and replace any gear that we need. Does that sound alright?" Daring to step a little closer to Steph, the last thing cass wants right now is for her to run before they can get back to the bat cave.
Steph took two steps back from her, making sure all her options were still open. She even prepared to draw out her grappling hook quickly, just in case. It was also just out cass's reach, so she couldn't grab her without making an effort.
I didn't cass expected her to be so cautious of her best friend. Cass also didn’t expect Stephanie to start giggling to herself all of a sudden as if she told a joke, and it looks that way to the untrained ear, but her chuckling didn’t make it seem as if she wasn’t laughing at what cass said, but rather at something deeper.
“Then I’ll just go home,” she says between giggles that keep bubbling out of her. Between another fit of giggles, she manages to get out, “I haven’t used big b’s supplies since I first got out of the robin costume.” Steph was now laughing at the irony of what Cass said about replacing supplies from the cave.
“Then let’s at least get off this building, it's getting cold,” Cass offered, pulling out her grappling hook while silently urging Steph to do the same.
Steph complied easily, thinking it would only make it worse if she didn’t. Fully taking out her grappling hook, she aimed and fired at the rooftop behind her. Cass did the same beside her, then they both pulled the trigger on the grappling hook to initiate their ascension.
Once landing safely on the roof and unhooking the grappling hook from the side of the roof, cass began looking her over again. “Let’s turn in your report for the trafficker back at the cave in person so they can get the facts straight, cass offered, while pulling out her communicator to tell Oracle that they were heading back to the cave early and to send the police to their location.
“Fine, but if they start accusing me of trying to kill that guy, please promise you’ll act as my witness that I didn’t, I’ve already been banned before,” Steph continues to complain about something about her death. jumping onto another roof, she spins around to observe cass as she makes her way to her roof, trying to make out how cass was feeling
while they're alone cass might promise to stand up for her, but the second she gets around the others, especially since it's so close to the holidays and everyone is in town. Cass might think it's for the better if Steph gets exiled again.
She can't cause trouble if shes not even around to do so.
Unfortunately, Stephanie didn’t have that kinda luck. It turns out that everyone decided to turn in early; it was a quieter night than others, she supposed, but even Dick is insane.
Not even a second from stepping into the cave, Cass flies from her side straight to Bruce's and Barbara's. While Jason and Damian were having some spat about some lost equipment that they think the other one stole, makes sense enough since they use the same knives.
She’s never had this problem since she buys all of her own equipment, but it is funny to watch the brothers fight, and Bruce sighing and pinching his nose while trying to calm them down made the night a tiny bit better since she joined Batgirl.
But it was Bruce looking directly at her that made a chill run down her Spine. She could sense the frustration, the disappointment, the apprehension coming off him in waves. She contemplated turning and making a dash for it since she was already by the entrance of the cave.
Bruce rises out of his chair, which shes 75% sure has been there since Dick was robin but that isn't the point. The point is that He’s currently waving her over, gesturing toward a different part of the cave.
Even Alfred doesn't go into that part of the cave to clean the most non-existent dust ever.
The part of the cave where there's only one room, the room that has somehow avoided all the lights in the batcave. She's not sure if it even has a light in there.
Maybe they’ll have to light a candle
By the time that Bruce got up out of the 100 year-old chair and waved her toward the room, the fight between Jason and Damian had already stopped or quieted down for a better term.
That meant they all saw Steph get waved over into the room; she could feel their eyes bore into the back of her skull. In her Peripheral she thought she could see Tim shake his head.
She kept her head down as she followed Bruce, not wanting to look them in the eyes. She felt as if she was making the walk of shame; the feeling of their stares made her walk faster.
Sure, she didn’t have any feelings about what she did, because she didn’t do anything wrong. All she did was get a horrible man, who was probably a predator, off the streets. But that doesn't help the pitying look she got from Barbara as she passed her, chancing a glance up at her face. That only made her walk faster; she was practically running now.
When she stepped into the room, she could already feel the energy in the air; her whole body tensed up once she heard the door shut, her shoulders touching her ears.
She was now stuck in a room with no way out, except the door that was now locked and had an ominous-looking Bruce standing right in front of it. In. Front.
She wonders if this is what the average goon feels like when they're backed into a corner by Batman. She hoped she would never find out, but I guess it runs in the family. She tries to discreetly make as much room between them, in case this is the day Batman, the dark kight tries to bench her instead of Bruce the mentor.
“Stephanie,” he starts slowly in a firm tone, clearly seeing her backing away from him, making him step farther away from the door.
He has to realize the opening he's leaving
“You know the rules, Stephanie," Bruce continues. Stephanie could feel her heart beat speeding up. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat, but she wasn’t worried about disappointing Bruce. That look that screamed regret was pasted on his face.
Regret that he ever thought she would live up to the robin name. Arguably, the biggest regret he has.
At least he treated Jason with respect when he was robin
No, she was mad. Mad he was trying to gaslight her into thinking she did something wrong, mad that he’s pressing her for her one mistake when Jason put a COP in the hospital last week. She guesses that when it comes to his actual family, every rule is just a recommendation.
"Yes, I know the rules, Bruce," letting out a huff and rolling her eyes at the idea of him trying to act as her parent.
Not like she needs another sucky dad
"Good thing I didn't break any of them." Smirking, she turned her back to him and started picking at her nails, secretly trying to make an escape plan.
If he's going to stand there and lecture her on the rules, when she knows for a fact that he's broken half of them with Catwoman alone, then he's got to wake up to reality. This isn’t Hatter’s dream machine.
"You almost killed a man, Stephanie, we don't get to pick and choose who obeys the rules and who dose" Bruce says, taking another step away from the door and closer to her than she'd prefer.
"So when Jason does its a mistake, but when I do it, it's premeditated," she mutters, still picking at her nails and shaking her head at the nonsense.
"What?" Steph knows damn well he heard her.
"I'm not going to repeat myself, Bruce, you know exactly what I'm talking about." She could now feel herself get physically hot; the chill of the cave wasn't cooling her down any longer.
" I have no idea what gibberish you're muttering about now, Stephanie." Bruce, exasperated, rubs the bridge of his nose. But he once again takes another step forward.
Why does he keep stepping closer? She didn't inch her way over here for no reason.
"Then maybe you're not as great a detective as people say," she states, finally turning toward him.
Starting to make her way toward the door. circling him, trading spaces with him. She sees him trying to formulate a coherent sentence before giving up. She's about to pass Bruce before he stops her, reaching out a hand to grab her wrist.
"Leave your suit and equipment in your locker, you've done enough for tonight," Bruce says, looking at the ground rather than at her. If he did look up, he would see her eyes getting wetter with each word he spoke.
"What?" She pushes out of her mouth, her voice cracking as she realizes what he just said. Her mouth was dry, but at the same time, it was as if there was too much saliva even to speak properly.
"Are you benching me?" Stephanie manages to get out before her throat swells shut.
"You should go now, so you can make it back home to take a nap before class," he says, still looking at the ground.
Why won't he look at her? Is she that much of a disappointment that he can't even look at her?
She's shaking now. Steph tries to deepen her breathing, but nothing works. Of course, he never believed in her. She was temporary, made to be thrown out.
"I guess I should've seen this coming, two strikes is all I get after all, right Bruce?" Stephanie says, continuing her way to the door before the hand on her wrist tightens.
"Steph, you know that isn't fair to anyone. I tried my best with y—"
"DID YOU BRUCE!?" she screamed, yanking her hand away from Bruce.
"Every. Single. day, you tossed me aside because I wasn't" she took a deep breath before continuing, "Because i wasn't Tim or dick or even Jason, you missed them too much even to pretend to like me" Stephanie says solemnly, ripping her wrist out of Bruce's hand. The sound of Bruce's mouth opening and closing fills the silence stretching between them.
Reaching out for the doorknob, she takes a second to think about their whole relationship.
Bruce never liked her. She was just there at the right time. There, when he was vulnerable, vulnerable enough to infiltrate the circle of bats.
"I know you never liked me, but you could've at least pretended you did."
"Stepha-" is all Bruce got to say before she ripped the door open and bolted toward her bike. She didn't even stop to comment on the rest of the bat family, obviously pretending to be startled by her entrance, as if they weren't eavesdropping the whole time.
Except for Jason, he didn't care enough.
She almost fell off her bike because of how fast she ran and jumped on it. The bike vibrated as she turned it on, revving to life. She was already pressing hard on the gas pedal before Bruce could yell after her.
"I didn’t start this because of you, Bruce. I'm here no matter what," she yells back before flying out of the cave as if someone was chasing her. Leaving all the judgmental stares behind.
The rest of the Bat-fam looked at Bruce with raised eyebrows, wondering where that came from.
Damien, being the most confused out of all of them, speaks up before anyone else, asking the question the rest of them were too afraid to ask.
"What does she mean by fired twice?"
Yes, Stephanie was still going out on patrol the next night
No, she wasn't afraid of Bruce finding out
Yes, she's avoiding all of the Bat's territory, so they can't berate her for leaving and practically wave the privilege of actually being in the family in her face.
Sure, shes made peace with the fact she will never be treated the same as the others. But Bruce is constantly pretending as if she is, and that she should somehow be grateful is insane.
Hopping from one roof to another, searching for something or someone to take her anger out on. She loses track of her surroundings, so immersed with wanting to hit something, she doesn't realize someone is following her. Probably something else Tim will bring up when arguing Bruce's side, like always.
"What did you do?" Damian appeared in front of her, making her stumble. falling back onto her butt to keep herself from falling off the edge, she turns and looks back at Damian with an exasperated look.
"How the hell did you find me? Better yet, why?" Stephanie asks, standing up slowly as she wipes the dust off her butt.
Damian only rolls his eyes and lets out a sharp breath. "For a person who had the gift of being called robin, you don't act like it," he says slyly, tilting his head to the side to look her up and down.
Is he seriously sizing her up right now? Who does he think he is?
Damian scoffs as he sees the confused and annoyed look on Stephanie's face.
"Well, my little stint as Robin didn't feel like a gift to me," murmurs Stephanie under her breath as she accepts that patrol is going to be rough tonight.
It was now Damian's turn to be confused. "How could you say that?! Father should've had a trial before just letting anyone become Robin," he said before turning around and letting out another scoff. Damian continues, “ Even Duke would find being Robin is an honor; it should've been him instead of you.” he shakes his head, as if he couldn't believe what she had said.
If only he knew the perks he had for being Bruce's family.
Perks that she simply doesn't get.
Walking over to the edge of the building, Stephanie shoots out her grappling gun to the nearest building. She makes sure it's secure before turning her head over her shoulder, calling out to the misunderstood boy behind her.
"Goodbye, Damien, come talk to me when you don't idealize your father so much," she shouts, jumping off the building. letting her body fade from the light.